"Iceland is a place where you cannot help but be overwhelmed by its beauty with every bent on the road, revealing different photographic possibilities. Volcanic peaks covered with fluorescent green moss, glacier-capped mountains, and black sand beaches form the terrain on which we will be exploring. During the midnight sun period in late June early July the sunset and sunrise are a few hours apart providing prolonged idyllic scenarios for landscape photography and an experience to talk about back home."

COUNTRY

Iceland

DATES

Starts: June 28, 2020

Ends: July 8, 2020

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS

Min: 4

Max: 6

PRICE

€ 5500

* price based on single room occupacy.

Description

In our first leg of the trip, we will see the extraordinary Landmannalaugar and its surrounding area of Iceland’s highlands. Colorful rhyolite mountains torn in half by lava fields and rivers braiding them together. Scars in the earth forming canyons, waterfalls and dormant volcanoes with lakes emerging on their once-hot crater, will be the terrain where we will roam in style with a 4x4 vehicle suitable to tackle any obstacle.On the second part of the workshop, we will encounter rough seas hitting black sand beaches with force creating rock sculptures through the centuries. Vik and the surrounding area to the south of the island will provide the set for our photographic endeavors, with waterfalls and plane wrecks completing this surreal environment. The third stop we will be making along the south coast will be at Stoksnes with theimpressive Vestrahorn mountain edging into the sea. Jökulsárlón bay and diamond beach are also into close proximity and so is another glacier bay nearby which surpasses the potential of the most popular places.Our fourth and final leg of the workshop will see us approaching the highlands from the south side. An area not easily accessible for workshops because of the bumpy ride needed in order to access it thus making it available only to us. We left this area for last to finish the workshop with a bang. No matter how many images of the highlands you will see, nothing can prepare you for witnessing this sight in person. Lunar landscapes at the reach of your lens and the best guidance available to achieve your objectives.The main goal of our workshop is to capitalize on all the chances we get to photograph and improve. We have taken care of everything, from transportation, lodging, to delicious dinners so all that is left for you to do is focus one eye on the viewfinder and the other one inside you and be creative. The main advantage which is unique to Light-Explorers is that we have a completely different approach to photography hence this workshop can appeal not only to people starting with photography but also to people who want a nudge to a different direction.

Itinerary

The days of the duration of the workshop are fixed and so are the dates spent in each location but everything else follows the Mediterranean mentality of our roots. Being highly flexible. A lot will be decided based on weather conditions and rate of fatigue but we will make sure that we will visit all the places that will accommodate the workshop goals. White nights in Iceland are challenging with sunset starting at ten at night and sunrise around three in the morning with no night in between. This means we will need to modify our sleeping habits to be able to master a long photography session that will start roughly around nine in the evening and last until four in the morning. Besides making the most of the golden and blue hours that follow and proceed each phase, we get to have the places we visit all to ourselves with just a bunch of other brave photographers following this timetable. Rest is vital when shooting at these hours so the timetable will be cleared until the following noon to replenish on sleep and breakfast. Transits between locations and post work sessions will be scheduled after noon for that sole purpose.

DAY 1 (JUN 28)

We meet at our hotel in Reykjavik and after some rest from our long journey we welcome everyone for drinks and dinner at the hotel restaurant. Workshop plans will be discussed and we will get to know each other.

DAY 2 (JUN 29)

We have breakfast at the hotel and then we are off driving to our first base at the north entrance of the Fjallabak Park. Once we have settled in we will drive to Haifoss waterfall to get acquainted with the location and depending on the weather conditions we will decide if we want to have a quick photography session.Dinner will be had at the hotel followed by some rest before we drive into Landmannalaugar before sunset to spend the “night” there. At sunset, we will be hiking up the Blue Mountain, Blahnukur, and for sunrise we will be at Sigöldugljufur waterfalls. A series of waterfalls falling into a canyon.

DAY 3 (JUN 30)

We will be sleeping in the morning with a short break for whoever wants to have breakfast. Our rendezvous will be at one in the afternoon for lunch and then we will have a post-processing session to introduce Adobe Lightroom and identify each participant's needs. We will also be reviewing all the produced images so far and selecting the best ones to be edited later on.After dinner, we will head again at Haifoss area to photograph the waterfall in the afternoon and setting sunlight before entering the highlands from a different road this time until we reach Landmannalaugar. There we will travel a different path to further explore the area or revisit favorite locations for a different perspective. For sunrise, we will visit the crater lake of Hnausapollur and Ljótipollur before we return back to the hotel.

DAY 4 (JUL 01)

We will check out of the hotel as late as possible to capitalize on sleep and we will head to our second base at Vik in the south coast. After check in we will head for early dinner at Vik and then walk in the surrounding area to see its main attractions and familiarize ourselves with the place.After some more rest at the hotel, we will head out to Reynisfjara beach for sunset and blue hour. Sunrise depending on light conditions will be either at the beach or the lagoon forming behind Dyrholaey.

DAY 5 (JUL 02)

After a good morning sleep we will have our afternoon image review of the images we produced the night before and then dinner at our favorite Vik restaurant.For our night session, we will choose from a range of close by locations including two mighty waterfalls, Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss and the DC-3 plane wreckage at Sólheimasandur beach.

DAY 6 (JUL 03)

Late checkout from our hotel as usual and then load the cars to move to one of our favorite locations in Iceland. Höfn. We will be making two stops along the way at two glacier lagoons. The famous Jökulsárlón and the lesser known Fjallsárlón which we like more. If the weather conditions are right we will be spending time shooting at those locations. After we check in at Höfn we will go for dinner in town and then head towards the Vestrahorn peninsula for sunset and sunrise. We will be exploring the area from the east side and then from the west stopping along the way to places that we believe have great photographic potential.

DAY 7 (JUL 04)

Like always after a good morning sleep we meet after noon for image review and post processing. We strongly encourage you to work on your images whenever you feel comfortable so we can spend time, in these sessions, discussing any questions that arise in the process.For sunset and sunrise, we have a choice of either going to Jökulsárlón and Fjallsárlón glacier lagoons or if we are happy with the images we have from there the day before we can spend the night session at Vestrahorn area again.

DAY 8 (JUL 05)

On the road, late morning again going southwest to our fourth and last leg of the trip. We will check in at our hotel in Hvolsvöllur and visit the town for supplies that we will need for the highlands. After dinner at the hotel, we will drive the rugged road to the highlands crossing glacier streams and rivers. Sunset and sunrise will find us exploring and photographing this lunar-like vast area that always leaves us in awe.

DAY 9 (JUL 06)

Meet afternoon for our last image review and post-processing session. By now we will expect to see some finished images and discuss your post-processing techniques. We will also be in hand as always to answer your questions and provide you our guidance. Dinner will be had at the hotel and then we will approach the highlands from a different rout exploring along the way until we reach familiar locations from last night’s shooting session.

DAY 10 (JUL 07)

After a good morning sleep and breakfast we head back to Reykjavik to spend the day there, and have a proper night’s sleep before we start our long journeys home. After checking in the hotel we will walk to town and enjoy the local food while discussing the workshop and getting some feedback from you.